Good morning, everyone.
Today, I would like to look at Genesis chapter 18 together. In this chapter, two truly wonderful scenes appear. The first is the scene where God visits Abraham. The second is the scene where Abraham desperately prays to God.
Abraham is the “Father of Faith” for the Jewish people and is called the first Jew.
Therefore, among the Five Books of Moses—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—the story of Abraham recorded in Genesis 18 has been read with special weight in Judaism since ancient times.
After experiencing the Babylonian Captivity (around 586 BC), the Jewish people established a new form of worship. It is the tradition of holding morning worship at the synagogue every Shabbat (Sabbath) and reading the Torah Portion (scripture reading section) in order.
Also, there is a list of 613 laws that systematically count the commandments of God (Mitzvot) recorded in the Torah (Pentateuch). This was established by the 12th-century rabbi, Maimonides, and consists of 248 positive commandments (“Do”) and 365 negative commandments (“Do not”).
Among them, one of the most important commandments (Halakha) is “Hospitality.” And another one is “Visiting the sick.”
Interestingly, commands like “visit the sick” or “show hospitality to guests” are not written in Leviticus or Numbers. There is no direct command.
So, where did they learn it from? It is from Abraham’s actions.
In other words, for Jewish people, Genesis is not merely an old tale. By looking at what Abraham did and how he behaved, they learn, “Then how should we live?” This is the basis of how Jewish people read the Bible.
Of course, understanding the text properly is a major premise. However, if one concludes from the context that “this means this” and ends there, it is not good.
How do Jewish people read it?
Rabbis do not give one correct answer saying, “Read this part this way,” and end it. This is where it is completely different from Japanese people.
For one question, they continue to produce multiple answers.
Why is that?
As a fundamental way of thinking, they believe that “humans do not possess the power to fully understand God’s thoughts.”
One can understand partially. But humans cannot 100% understand what God, or what He intended through angels, meant.
Therefore, they keep asking. They keep searching. They keep giving answers.
That is why there is no end to biblical interpretation, Midrashic interpretation.
Here ends the introduction. Now, let us enter the main topic.
Verses 1-15: God’s Appearance at the Terebinth Trees of Mamre and the Promise to Sarah
Faith that Entertains God’s Guests (Verses 1-8)
It is the hot time of high noon. Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent. Then suddenly, three men were standing before him.
This is the visitation of the Lord, the advent of God. In many places, when angels appear, they are called by the name of Shekhinah (the name of the Lord, the very presence of God).
Normally, at such a hot time, one might think, “Oh, guests. How troublesome.” But Abraham was different. He ran hurriedly, bowed down to the ground, and said, “Please, do not pass by!”
Now, in the original Hebrew text, it does not say Abraham. The verb is (ו:ירא Va-yera), “The Lord appeared and said thus.”
Furthermore, why did the Bible need to write “in the heat of the day”? In the previous chapter, chapter 17, there was the circumcision; verse 1 here is the continuation of the circumcision. Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina interprets it as: “That day was the third day after Abraham had been circumcised. Therefore, God came to visit Abraham (to visit the sick). God made the hot sun rise so that this righteous man would not have to attend to guests.”
Also, who are the three angels?
In Jewish tradition, there is a tradition that the three angels are Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel.
・Michael (מִיכָאֵל) came to announce to the couple, Abraham and Sarah, that their son Isaac would be born.
・Raphael (רְפָאֵל) came to heal Abraham because he was in pain after circumcision, and to rescue his nephew Lot.
・Gabriel (גַּבְרִיאֵל) came to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah in chapter 19.
The Heart of Hospitality
And what did Abraham do? He brought water, had them wash their feet, let them rest in the shade of the tree, and then hurriedly began preparing a meal. In ancient nomadic life, entertaining travelers was an act of protecting life.
But Abraham’s action goes far beyond that.
While saying, “Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed,” what did he actually prepare? He chose a calf, a tender and good one, and had a servant prepare it. Midrash Rabbah has an interpretation connecting this “servant” (young man) to Ishmael (Abraham’s son). Along with that, he served bread, curds, and milk. This is not “something” (a little)! It is a lavish feast.
Receiving Guests is More Important than Welcoming the Shekhinah (God)
The general understanding of Jewish sages is that verse 1 is a visit by God; they understand that God visited Abraham who was in pain from circumcision.
From verse 2, it is Abraham’s hospitality to guests. In chapter 18, two major commandments in Judaism, “visiting the sick” and “hospitality to guests,” are spoken of continuously. The issue here is the question of which commandment is more important and which takes precedence.
When two types of commandments must be executed at the same time, one must judge which to execute first.
Originally, the purpose of commandments is to draw near to God. Therefore, the conclusion arises that “welcoming God” is more important.
However, this conclusion simultaneously contains a problem. It is the problem of whether it is okay to sacrifice other things for the sake of faith.
Furthermore, considering that for sins against God, a path of forgiveness is left through prayers of repentance and God’s mercy, but sins against people cannot be resolved by prayer alone, how should it be concluded?
Genesis 18 tells us that while he was entertaining guests, he was told the prophecy that a child would be born.
Therefore, in Judaism, they conclude that “Hospitality to guests is more important than welcoming the Shekhinah (God).”Sitting opposite God does not depend on time or place, but guests come only at that moment.
Hebrews 13:2 says:“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” (NIV)
How is our church? How do we welcome those who come for the first time?
Also, it means God visits in unexpected forms.
Abraham might not have fully known who these three men were at first.
But he treated them humbly and politely.
In our daily lives too, God sometimes visits in unexpected forms, through unexpected people.
Reconfirmation of the Promise of Isaac’s Birth (Verses 9-15)
・An Unbelievable Promise
Now, these visitors asked Abraham while eating. “Where is your wife Sarah?”
Sarah was listening inside the tent. And one of the visitors said, “About this time next year, Sarah will have a son.”
・Laughter in the Heart
At that time, Sarah laughed to herself. Why? She was already past 90 years old (Genesis 17:17). Abraham was also nearly 100. She thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I have this pleasure?” Menstruation had completely stopped; reproductive ability was completely lost.
“Everyone, some of you might wonder. ‘Since Sarah’s menstruation had stopped, how did she get pregnant?’
Actually, the Bible does not record the details. Probably intentionally.
Why?
Because the fact that God did it is more important than the method of how.
God might have miraculously restored Sarah’s body.
Or, He might have directly given life, transcending the normal physiological process.
Either way, this is a complete miracle.
It is not something that can be explained medically.
It is beyond human understanding.
That is why Isaac bears the name meaning ‘laughter’ and is remembered as a child of a miracle.
‘Is anything too hard for the Lord?’ This word shines here.
Even if your situation is medically, scientifically, or commonsensically impossible, nothing is impossible for God.
Financial difficulties, family problems, health anxieties, broken relationships.
We have many things we cannot resolve. But nothing is impossible for God. God knows the way. Even if we cannot understand, God can do it.”
・Being Honest
Sarah became afraid and said, “I did not laugh.” But God said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
God knows everything deep in our hearts.
Therefore, there is no need to put on a front before God. It is okay to be honest.
You can honestly confess your doubts, anxieties, and weaknesses to God.
The New Testament records: Hebrews 11:11: “And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.” (NIV)
Verses 16-33: Abraham’s Intercessory Prayer Regarding Sodom and Gomorrah
And the story moves to the second half, “The Judgment of Sodom.”
God informs Abraham of Sodom’s sin.
Why did He inform him?
It is because Abraham is a “person who intercedes.”
Abraham speaks boldly, yet with humility.
“If there are fifty righteous people, won’t you save the city?”
“Then what if forty-five?”
“What if forty?”
“What if thirty? Twenty? Ten?”
God Who Shares His Plan (Verses 16-21)
The Bible records that God appeared to Abraham for a purpose.
Why did God directly, or angels, appear to Abraham?
The answer is that Abraham was chosen as a “prophet” and was a being given a special mission.
There is God’s word in verse 17: “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” (NIV)
This indicates the principle that God reveals His plans to prophets.
Abraham was chosen not merely as a father of faith, but as one who hears and inherits God’s will.
・Connection between the Two Themes of Genesis 18
Chapter 18 is largely divided into: First half: The story of Abraham entertaining three guests (God or angels).
Second half: The declaration of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. At first glance, different contents are depicted.
However, these two are deeply connected in the flow of chapters 17-19.
Chapter 17: God makes a covenant with Abraham and promises, “Blessing will extend through your offspring.”
Chapter 18: Abraham’s “righteousness” in entertaining guests is shown (virtue of hospitality), and simultaneously, Sodom’s destruction is declared (God’s judgment).
Chapter 19: The destruction of Sodom and the rescue of Lot.
This flow is to clarify the reason and mission for which Abraham was chosen.
God gave Abraham the mission to teach the way to his children as one who does “righteousness (Tzedakah) and justice (Mishpat)” (Verse 19), and the role to become the “source of blessing for all nations” (Chapter 12:3).
In other words, Genesis 18:19 is the first declaration clarifying Abraham’s election and mission, spoken in the form of God’s monologue.
- “Chosen him” (Known him) = God’s election/covenant
- Mission = To teach God’s way to children
- Content = Righteousness (Tzedakah) and Justice (Mishpat)
- Therefore, God does not hide the plan from Abraham
- The central sentence connecting the “hospitality” of the first half of Ch 18 and the “judgment” of the second half
- A theological declaration serving as the starting point of salvation history
Abraham’s Intercessory Prayer (Verses 22-33)
Hearing that Sodom would be destroyed in verses 20-23, Abraham drew near and entered into a dialogue with God.
Where Abraham is different from others, where he excels, is that he draws near to God and engages in dialogue. He negotiated down to 10 people. He persisted with God. The purpose for which Abraham was chosen is to “do righteousness and justice in this land.”
・Destruction of Sodom
Abraham’s prayer is not a “negotiation” but a “confession based on the understanding of God’s nature.”
50 → 45 → 40 → 30 → 20 → 10
The rhythm depicted in a grading sequence is a characteristic of Hebrew literature.
・Were there not even 10 righteous people in Sodom?
There were not even 10 righteous people in Sodom. Then, was the situation so terrible as to destroy the whole city?
What does the “outcry” (Tze’akah, צְעָקָה) used in the original text mean on earth?
・Rabbinic Tradition: The Story of Lot’s Daughter
In the Jewish Rabbinic book, the Midrash (collection of biblical interpretations), specifically Kinte Pira Pinezel (phonetic transliteration), such a story is handed down:
“In Sodom, such a law was enacted.
‘Anyone who gives even a piece of bread to the poor, the weak, or foreigners shall be burned at the stake.’
One of Lot’s daughters, Klopick, was married to a powerful man in Sodom.
One day, she saw a hungry poor person on the street and was pained in her heart.
What did she do?
Every day when she went to draw water, she hid food in her bucket and gave it to that poor person to feed him.
The people of Sodom wondered. ‘Why does that poor man not die? How is he surviving?’
Eventually, she was found out, and the people of Sodom tried to burn her at the stake.
At that time, she cried out.
‘God of the world, please help me. Execute judgment on the people of Sodom.’
Her outcry went up to heaven and reached God’s throne of glory.
There God said, ‘I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If the people of Sodom have done exactly as this woman cried out, I will turn their foundation upside down.'” This is handed down within Judaism.
Now, some of you might think,
“Isn’t this a made-up story not written in the Bible?”
However, if you just laugh it off like that, you will overlook something important.
There is a deep reason why Rabbis created such a story.
What is being questioned is “Evil as a Social System.”
・What Jewish scholars argued is this:
“Why does it become a sin sufficient for the whole city to be burned down?”
Just having a few bad people in the country is not a reason for the whole city to be destroyed.
Then, what is the sin sufficient for the whole city, the whole country to be destroyed?
What this story points out is the horror of “a society where such things are enacted as social rules.”
In other words, it is not a problem of the number of how many bad people there were.
It is not a problem of the degree of evil.
Judaism has argued that there is no evil worse than creating laws as a social institution that forbid helping the weak and punish it.
That is why such a story was born.
If you laugh this off as a mere “made-up story,” you will overlook this deep insight.
・Teaching of Rabbi Maimonides
The great medieval rabbi, Maimonides, teaches this:
“Every year, a human being must look at themselves and think thus: ‘I am half innocent and half guilty.’ That it is 50-50.
And think of the whole world in the same way, not just yourself. ‘The world is also half without sin and half with sin.’
If you commit even one sin, the scale tilts toward sin. The balance between guilty and innocent collapses.
As a result, the world might head toward destruction.
Conversely, if you perform one holy commandment, you can tilt yourself, and the world, toward innocence.
By doing so, you can bring salvation to the world.”
(Hilchot Teshuvah, Repentance Laws, from the poem of repentance)
・The Real Sin of Sodom
What Jewish scholars understood is this:
An individual doing evil alone does not result in a judgment where fire falls from heaven to burn everything up.
However, if crushing the weak is enacted as a statute of society, as a law, that is an evil for which it cannot be helped if fire comes down from heaven and burns it to destruction.
However, the Bible speaks. At least 10 righteous people are necessary.
This number “10” is the same as the minimum number of adult males (Minyan) required for Jewish prayer.
In other words, a minimum community of faith is necessary.
・Testimony of the Book of Ezekiel
Prophet Ezekiel also speaks about the sin of Sodom:
Ezekiel 16:49
“Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.” (NIV)
・Geographical and Social Background of Sodom
Sodom was in the wilderness, but springs were gushing out. In other words, it was a rich place.
They thought, “It is fine as long as we are good.”
Therefore, they gave neither food nor drinking water to the hungry, the weak, or foreigners.
God said NO to the nature, the way of thinking, that “It is fine as long as I can live comfortably.”
This is the understanding of Judaism seen from the story of Sodom.
Ending:
Verse 33, God leaves.
The story ends “unfinished.”
This unfinished nature makes the tragedy of chapter 19 heavier.
【Words of Invitation】
Beloved everyone.
In Genesis 18, the Lord visited Abraham.
Abraham did not miss that invitation, immediately stood up to welcome the Lord, entertained Him with all his heart, and received the Lord’s word.
Today, the same Lord is speaking quietly in this worship—and at the doorway of your heart.
“Open your heart to Me.
I want to bless you.
I want to save you from sin
and give a new promise to your life.”
The Lord comes not with anger, but with blessing and mercy.
Just as the God who judged Sodom simultaneously filled Abraham and Sarah with laughter,
the Lord desires to restore the lost joy to you as well.
If you wish today, “Lord, please come into my life too,”
that small wish is the first step of faith.
Now, the Lord is calling your name.
Those who want to accept the Lord,
those who want to return to stand before the Lord once again,
those who seek blessing, please respond to the Lord quietly in your heart.
“Lord, I welcome You.
I will follow Your word.
Please lead me.”
To the one who offers this prayer,
the Lord will surely answer. Amen.
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